The Bruins were off on Monday, but injured defenseman Andrew Ference[1] took the ice and worked with strength coach John Whitesides at TD Garden. Coach Claude Julien[2] said afterwards that Ference has been skating for the last day or two.

Once Ference is able to return, the Bruins will likely have to choose between reinserting the veteran into the lineup or leaving Matt Bartkowski in. Both Bartkowski and Torey Krug have become contributors since entering the lineup due to injuries on the blueline, with Torey Krug all but guaranteeing himself a spot going forward four goals in five games thus far.

“A lot goes into it,” Julien said. “At one point you make a decision, and that doesn’t mean that it’s an easy one, because it’s not. But we’ll deal with it when the time comes, we did it with [Dennis] Seidenberg[3]. If Ference becomes available, we’ll have to deal with that, too.”

Other players to hit the ice Monday for the B’s were Jay Pandolfo and Jaromir Jagr.